Buddhism Glossary A thru I

Guest Author - Jeanette Stingley

For those new to Buddhism or just curious, all the different terms used in Buddhism can be confusing to most. In this article we will look briefly at different terms often heard associated with Buddhism. This article has A thru I

Attachment - In the Four Noble truths, Buddha Shakyamuni taught that attachment to self is the root cause of suffering

Awakening - A Zen term for enlightenment

Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Ornament) - The basic text of the Avatamsaka School. It is one of the longest sutras in the Buddhist Canon and records the highest teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni, immediately after Enlightenment.

bhikkhu, bikkhuni - A Buddhist monk, a Buddhist nun

Bodhi - Sanskrit for Enlightenment

Bodhi Mind (Bodhicitta, Great Mind) - The spirit of Enlightenment, the aspiration to achieve it, the Mind set on Enlightenment.

Bodhisattvas - Those who aspire to Supreme Enlightenment and Buddhahood for themselves and all beings.

Dharma Nature - The intrinsic nature of all things. Used interchangeably with "emptiness," "reality."

dukkha - The Buddhist understanding of the nature of life, especially human life. It is suffering, pain, misery, and death

Eight Sufferings - (1) Suffering of Birth; (2) Suffering of Old Age; (3) Suffering of Sickness; (4) Suffering of Death; (5) Suffering of being apart from the loved ones; (6) Suffering being together with the despised ones; (7) Suffering of not getting what one wants; (8) Suffering of the flouishing of the Five Skandhas.

Eightfold Path - The eight right ways leading to the cessation of sufferings. (1) Right View; (2) Right Thought; (3) Right Speech; (4) Right Action; (5) Right Livelihood; (6) Right Effort; (7) Right Remembrance; (8) Right Concentration